In 1999, a U.S. Marine pilot whose plane had snapped a ski-lift cable high in Italy, killing 20 people, was acquitted of charges of involuntary homicide and manslaughter.

In 2002, after more than 40 people died violently in a week, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he aimed to kill as many Palestinians as possible to force negotiation.

In 2003, Philippine authorities blamed two bombings on the island of Mindanao on Islamic separatists. Twenty-two people, including a U.S. missionary, were killed and 150 injured in one blast and one died and three were hurt in the other.

In 2005, homemaking guru Martha Stewart returned home after serving five months in a federal prison for conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding and making false statements to federal investigators and began five months of home confinement.

In 2007, Sunni insurgents killed and wounded hundreds of Shiite Muslim pilgrims traveling to the holy city of Karbala in Iraq. At least 77 died at Hilla in the worst of the four-day series of attacks.

In 2008, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., clinched the Republican nomination for U.S. president with primary wins in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois remained a slim front-runner over Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York in the tight Democratic contest.

In 2009, the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir at The Hague, Netherlands, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region of Western Sudan. It was the first ICC warrant against a sitting president.

In 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $15 billion jobs bill that includes a Social Security tax break for companies hiring new employees.

Also in 2010, more than 100 aftershocks menaced earthquake-ravaged Chile one week after a near record 8.8-magnitude tremor struck off the central coast. However, aid was reported reaching the hardest hit areas. The official death toll topped 800 before being scaled back.

In 2011, as Libya plunged toward civil war, witnesses reported that Moammar Gadhafi's forces gunned down non-violent protesters in the city of Zawiya, 30 miles west of Tripoli.

In 2012, Vladimir Putin was again elected president of Russia with 64 percent of the vote but the outcome was challenged for possible fraud by the United States and Europe while thousands of anti-Putin protesters hit the streets in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

A thought for the day: Thomas Jefferson said, "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

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